Two individuals, including a young boy, have been reported dead in Russian artillery assaults, as stated by Ukrainian authorities.
Meanwhile, Russia claimed to have downed a Ukrainian fighter plane and eliminated a group of unmanned aerial vehicles in multiple areas.
The assaults occurred as Russia is gaining ground on the battlefield and Ukrainian forces are running low on ammunition.
Ukraine’s allies in the West are cautiously considering the possibility of deploying troops. Radek Sikorski, the Polish foreign minister, mentioned that sending Nato troops to Ukraine is not out of the question.
French President Emmanuel Macron expressed last month that the notion should not be dismissed.
Serhiy Lysak, governor of Ukraine’s Dnipropetrovsk region, disclosed that a 16-year-old boy was fatally wounded and a 22-year-old man was injured in a morning artillery strike on the town of Chervonohryhorivka.
Today, I addressed the National Taras Shevchenko Award Ceremony.
For a human community to become a nation and a state, the country's best characters must have hearts that cannot be satisfied with simply living for themselves. Such hearts communicate with those who are near. Take… pic.twitter.com/KtWuup6vGA
— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) March 9, 2024
The town is situated across the river from the Russian-controlled Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, which is the largest in Europe, and the area is frequently targeted by Russian attacks.
In the town of Chasiv Yar, one person was killed in artillery shelling, according to authorities in the Donetsk region, where a significant portion is under Russian control and has experienced intense fighting throughout the ongoing three-year war.
The Russian defence ministry declared that their forces downed 41 drones launched over the Rostov region, which borders Ukraine and hosts Russia’s southern military command, as well as two drones over the Kursk region and three over Volgograd. No injuries were immediately reported.
The ministry also confirmed that the air force had shot down a Ukrainian MiG-29 fighter jet over Pokrovsk, a city and crucial railway hub in the Donetsk region, which has become a primary target for Russia following the Ukrainian forces’ withdrawal from Avdiivka in February, marking a significant setback for Ukraine’s war effort.
The governor of Russia’s Belgorod region, which shares a border with Ukraine, mentioned that Ukrainian drones attacked two villages near the border on Saturday, but no injuries were reported. The governor, Vyacheslav Gladkov, did not specify the extent of damage from the attacks.
Despite facing military setbacks, Ukraine rejects suggestions of peace talks with Russia. While hosting a visit by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Friday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan expressed willingness for his country to organize a peace summit between Russia and Ukraine.
However, Mr Zelensky remains steadfast in refusing direct engagement with Russia for peace negotiations and has emphasized multiple times that the initiative in peace talks must come from the country that has been invaded.
